Who else is left handed here?
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I am! 
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I am. Most of my family is.
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I am!
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Me!
And here’s an interesting fact, I hold my paper almost completely upside down to write. Like this…
How do the rest of y’all hold your paper?
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That is so funny I hold my paper weird too but it’s like sideways so it looks like I’m blocking what I’m writing I’ll have to post a pic
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I am
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Left handed here also.Hold paper slanted to right and my righting is backhanded slant.
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Katina, that is interesting. I have never seen or known of anyone who did it that way. But, if it works for you – that’s great. 
What did your teachers in school say about it? Did they try to make you do it differently?
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Almost! lol I’m ambidextrous 
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I don’t remember my kindergarten teacher having a problem with it. In kindergarten I wrote backwards…mirror image. I remember her gently teaching the correct way for the letters to go, but never cared how I held the paper. But my first grade teacher absolutely hated it. She absolutely insisted that I hold my paper in this “correct” way.
It sucked. I couldn’t concentrate on my actual work because I was too busy trying to write properly. First grade is a horrible memory for me. My second grade teacher didn’t care. She made me feel smart and she accepted my quirkiness. (Now she’s all over my Facebook complimenting my dolls.
) The rest of my teachers we’re fine too. It was just that one old lady first grade teacher who felt like everyone had to fit in the box.It’s interesting though to see how things changed. When my left handed grandma was in elementary in the 30s she was forced to be right handed. Her first grade teacher tied her left hand behind her back or slapped it with a ruler when she tried to write with it. Then in the 70s my first grade teacher let me use my left hand but insisted I do it the “proper” way. Then when my left handed son was in elementary in the 00s, nobody cared. He initially held his paper upside down and they said as long as he was writing that was fine. He now places his paper correctly but writes letters from the bottom to the top. My older right handed son forms his letters from the bottom to the top too. I’m not sure where they learned that from.
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Not left handed but my son is. He broke his arm chasing a girl on the playground when he was in second grade and had a terrible time having to write right handed. It was a blessing he had a long term sub in his room then because she was way more patient and caring than his real teacher who disliked him greatly. He has always had difficulty with the spiral rings on his notebooks but other than that he has done ok. He holds his pencil funny but not his paper. He is also very double jointed so that may help.
As a teacher of 24 years I’ve seen lots of lefties. They all have their own ways of adapting around “conventional right handed ness”. I’ve had one child who held his paper upside down.
If you’re interested, look up Marianne Gibbs. She is an expert on left handed ness and how the brain works. She speaks to teachers about ways to teach fine motor skills and what is needed before kids can learn to use writing tools properly. She also says, and I agree that your “handed ness” is determined before birth. Think she said it’s in dna or chromosomes. Her website is www.writeoutofthebox.com
Sorry so long of a post, it’s the ece teacher in me.
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I am not sure any of it is learned – except maybe from the teachers who felt it should all be uniform from child to child. There is a reason why we do what we do, even writing. We know that the handwriting comes from the brain and is really brain writing. So, however our brain sends signals that is how we write, and I am sure it covers other areas, too. It would be interesting to know why they do it their way. One of our grand daughters drew beautiful little diagrams of people and such, but she drew them upside down. I could not understand how she could do that when I can’t even do it decently right side up! That was pre school days. She did eventually start drawing the “correct” way society says we have to. She just turned 20, and she can make art so fast and so good. It is amazing. She is definitely talented in the art field.
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My great-grandmother had her hand tied down too. She said it made her stutter. I never took notice if she switched to using the right hand after that. She may not have had a choice.
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I’m left handed too! Actually I’m ambidextrous due to teachers in grade school always making me use my right hand. Gotta love the 80’s.
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ambidextrous Here
I was born left handed but was always had stuff put in my right hand so I’m lucky I can use both some things easier for me to use left hand somethings easier for. Right hand. I can write with both, throw with both etc and being ambidextrous comes in handy for me as with my medical reasons
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Glad they are evolving.
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That’s weird that they still did that in the 80s in your area.
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My grandma said it made her stutter too now that you mention it. She did continue to write with her right hand her whole life. But I remember her complaining about it a lot. She probably told me more than the other grandkids, since I was a lefty too. I don’t remember her ever writing except checks and grocery lists. Her writing was chicken scratch. She would say things like “I could have had beautiful handwriting” or “I could have been an artist.” But she was never allowed to develop to her full potential.
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